Keesing John K, Strzelecki Joanna, Stowar Marcus, Wakeford Mary, Miller Karen J, Gershwin Lisa-Ann, Liu Dongyan
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Private Bag 5, Wembley, 6913, Australia.
The Western Australian Marine Science Institution, Perth, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2016 Feb 29;6:22290. doi: 10.1038/srep22290.
Box jellyfish cause human fatalities and have a life cycle and habit associated with shallow waters (<5 m) in mangrove creeks, coastal beaches, embayments. In north-western Australia, tow video and epibenthic sled surveys discovered large numbers (64 in a 1500 m tow or 0.05 m(-2)) of Chironex sp. very near to the benthos (<50 cm) at depths of 39-56 m. This is the first record of a population of box jellyfish closely associated with the benthos at such depths. Chironex were not widespread, occurring only in 2 of 33 tow videos and 3 of 41 epibenthic sleds spread over 2000 km(2). All Chironex filmed or captured were on low to medium relief reefs with rich filter feeder communities. None were on soft sediment habitat despite these habitats comprising 49% of all sites. The importance of the reef habitat to Chironex remains unclear. Being associated with filter feeder communities might represent a hazard, and other studies have shown C. fleckeri avoid habitats which represent a risk of entanglement of their tentacles. Most of our observations were made during the period of lowest tidal current flow in the morning. This may represent a period favourable for active hunting for prey close to the seabed.
箱形水母会导致人类死亡，其生命周期和习性与红树林小溪、沿海海滩、港湾等浅水区（<5米）相关。在澳大利亚西北部，通过两次视频拖曳和底栖生物雪橇调查发现，在39 - 56米深处，大量（在1500米拖曳中发现64只，即0.05只/平方米）的手曳水母属物种非常靠近海底（<50厘米）。这是首次在如此深度记录到与海底密切相关的箱形水母种群。手曳水母分布并不广泛，在2000平方公里范围内的33次视频拖曳中仅在2次发现，在41次底栖生物雪橇调查中仅在3次发现。所有拍摄或捕获到的手曳水母都在具有丰富滤食性生物群落的低到中等起伏的珊瑚礁上。尽管软质沉积物栖息地占所有调查地点的49%，但在这些栖息地未发现任何手曳水母。珊瑚礁栖息地对手曳水母的重要性仍不清楚。与滤食性生物群落相关可能意味着一种危险，其他研究表明，弗氏手曳水母会避开那些触手有被缠住风险的栖息地。我们的大多数观察是在早晨潮流最低的时段进行的。这可能代表着一个有利于在靠近海床处积极捕食猎物的时期。
